Originally Posted by
SilkySmooth
So at what point do you quit believing the tower? In other words, when do you make the decision to go around should the winds exceed limitations? Would you land if the tower reported a 10kt headwind even though your PFD indicated a 15kt tailwind?
How do you guys determine your Vref factor? And how much different would it be given the stated conditions?
I guess my question really is, "If the conditions are not likely to be rapidly changing, is it really necessary to clog up the frequency by asking for a wind check? (If you listen, you'll notice that the tower will typically annouce any significant changes in wind speed and or direction) And even if the conditions are rapidly changing, who's to say that they're going to be the same 30 to 60 seconds from now when you land? At some point, don't you have to make your best assessment and go with it?"
#1. You're assuming that DAL is the only flight crews that ever ask for wind checks.
#2. You're comment about the necessity of asking for a windcheck is baseless and unprofessional. There are plenty of legitimate reasons why someone may ask for a windcheck. The last thing they need is for others to think that they're doing it for no good reason.
#3. You're missing the point. When things don't look right, it's best to be prepared and to start thinking about what you're going to do if winds suddenly change.
In my scenario, if my equipment is saying tailwinds and tower is calling headwinds, I know there's a shear. How bad? I don't know, it depends on how rapidly or slowly the direction changes. But knowledge is power and it helps me know if there's a potential problem that I'm about to fly into.
#4. I have no idea why anyone other than myself has asked for a windcheck. I've only done it a couple of times. But I assume the others had good reasons, just as I did.